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SOTA c02s02
Text Scrivener Blooms sat at a large, private table on the second floor of Ponyville's poshest restaurant. His back was to a railing that looked out over the first floor, but that just made him feel awkward, not imperious: he couldn't help but feel like every single pony at the tables on the first floor was staring up at his back. Luna and Twilight were on either side of him: Luna had put on a pretty pair of onyx earrings, but everypony had long given up on making her wear a dress, so instead she was wearing an only-slightly wrinkled blue jacket. Twilight, meanwhile, was wearing a long black dress and had a shawl carefully wrapped around her neck: not because she wanted to hide her collar, but to hide the telltale signs that she wasn't a living pony. Scrivener was still in his suit, which had long gotten a little rumpled, and his agent, Barry, was sitting on Twilight's other side, heartily indulging in the free food and wine as he rambled away to the way-too-serious looking ponies on the other side of the table. The charcoal stallion had admittedly been surprised: two of these bigwigs were earth ponies, and one was a Pegasus. The last was a unicorn, but he had a chipped horn: likely nothing that would seriously interfere with his magic, but in the north, a single blemish on a unicorn's horn was considered a sign of weakness and inferiority. The scarred stallion rubbed nervously at the hoof-shaped mark around one of his eyes in an old anxious gesture, as he picked slowly at the salad in front of him. All four of the investors, publishers... whatever they were... they were all eating those tiny, ultra-expensive, unfulfilling little meals. Scrivener, meanwhile, had stupidly attempted to order meat dumplings, earning several stares of horror. He shifted nervously, and Luna reached out and touched his side, gazing at him reassuringly. He felt her thoughts and emotions as their eyes met, and the two smiled at each other as he calmed a little. The feeling of her heart, beating in time with his, always soothed him... looking into her eyes always warmed him. And then he closed his own when he felt Twilight touch his other side, and felt the connection he held with her as well, the three of them linked for a moment through the gentle contact they all shared. Then Scrivener winced and glanced up as Barry's voice cut in cheerfully: “Yeah, ain't this guy a stud? I mean, he gets the ladies, his books are selling like hotcakes, and my boy Scrivy here is gearing up to be the next greatest sensation, the biggest thing since-” “The initial run is impressive, but the true test is how well the books continue to sell once it's running on its own.” interrupted one of the earth ponies: he was darker green, almost moss-colored, with hooded, dark eyes and a short, spiky black mane. His suit was the most casual, and yet it probably still cost more bits than Scrivener and Luna had spent on upgrading and furnishing their house. The unicorn grunted in agreement: plump, with a bright blue coat and his mane cut down to red and white streaked bristles. Scrivener thought his suit must have at least five layers to it: overcoat, dress jacket, vest, silk shirt, some kind of under-layer... “Underbrush is right. Richard Taste, what do you think? You're the critic here, not me.” The other earth pony only shrugged: he was an autumn red, with a blonde beard and bedhead mane that had probably taken an hour to purposefully tangle up so stylishly. He had little glasses on that Scrivener could tell were as fake as his own pair at home, and the weirdest suit Scrivener had ever seen: it looked like it was patched together from a whole assortment of other incredibly-expensive pieces of cloth and clothing. Or things just taken out of the garbage, he wasn't really sure. The awkward silence that followed with the critic's lack of response lasted almost a full minute before Barry rose his wine glass and said firmly: “My guy's a keeper, just you wait and see! Now, I believe we had a movie deal we were going to talk about?” “Not until we see the sales and gauge interest.” Underbrush muttered, looking moodily up. “I think I speak for myself and Mr. Tops when I say that I'm not willing to risk financing what could very well be a flop. Especially considering what I'm already hearing Rogues And Studs is preparing to write about your prestigious little book.” Scrivener smiled lamely, and the unicorn nodded vigorously in agreement. Barry chuckled nervously in response to this as Luna grumbled and Twilight shifted awkwardly, before the literary agent said hurriedly: “Now, listen... listen, guys- I mean, sirs. All of you are very important ponies, I know that, very important investors and people who are in the business of entertainment. Not the fun hobby of entertainment, the business. But... if you wanna make money, you gotta spend money, right? And furthermore, everypony knows that Ersatz Major lives to make ponies miserable. “Now, my guy here, he is a sound investment.” Barry said firmly, hammering a hoof lightly against the table, and Scrivener had to admit... Barry could be a complete douchebag but he also certainly gave his all for his clients. Even if that was likely just because Barry wanted the biggest paycheck possible. “You guys gotta be ready to invest soon, though. It's not that I wanna rush you big boys, it's just that... it wouldn't be in my client's interest to turn down any other offers we might get, you know? And I really wanna try and give you guys the first bite of the apple here, with how good you've already been to us.” Underbrush looked distasteful at most, while Richard – or Rich, as he preferred – shifted in his seat. Mr. Tops, meanwhile, kept tossing nervous looks at his compatriots, but the unicorn clearly was not the kind of pony who ever made decisions on his own. Lastly, the Pegasus was still ignoring almost everything, picking slowly at his meal, looking almost completely uninterested. Scrivener's eyes lingered on him: Underbrush was a big time publisher, Rich Taste was an investor, critic and pony determined to be involved with all the newest and hottest trends, and Topsy Curvy – or Mr. Tops, and Scrivener couldn't exactly blame the unicorn for preferring that over his real name – was a very rich and likely very stupid unicorn whose sole purpose in the world seemed to be investing money into things other ponies told him to. But the last, the Pegasus, was a private distributor and bit-part-owner of Underbrush's publishing company. Someone with enough heft to sit at this table, but... not a pony who could seriously affect any of the decisions of the others. Then he suddenly looked up in the middle of the long silence, as if he felt Scrivener's eyes on him, before asking abruptly: “Twilight Sparkle, is it true that you're a Lich?” Luna glowered and Scrivener winced, but Twilight hesitated only a moment before nodding slowly. The Pegasus looked at her for a few long moments, then his eyes roved to Luna, and he asked in the same curious voice: “And you are Nightmare Moon, the goddess of the demons?” “Well, I do admittedly enjoy being referred to as a goddess, but Nightmare Moon is more... a tumor.” Luna replied mildly, and when she felt something shift moodily inside her, the winged unicorn sighed and added wryly: “Although that is perhaps bitterness on mine own part speaking. Aye, she and I... we are one, in many ways.” The Pegasus nodded even as the other investors looked at him, Underbrush frowning darkly, but the Pegasus didn't seem aware of it as his eyes settled on Scrivener, stating more than asking quietly: “And you. You're a Clockwork Pony, you wrote.” Scrivener flinched a bit at this, but then he closed his eyes and nodded slowly, feeling a knife inside his guts as he always did when he thought about this dark truth... before frowning a little. Something else struck him as odd, as he opened his eyes and looked slowly up across at the Pegasus, who was looking at him intently, before the charcoal stallion murmured: “You read the book.” “I did. I started it, and thought you were an awful writer. But I kept reading. And at some point I forgot that I was supposed to be critiquing the story and I just stopped thinking about mechanics and rules and everything. There were flaws everywhere, but I think you know that, don't you? You left them in there. And you wrote the story with them.” The Pegasus stopped, then looked down thoughtfully. “It was years since I read a story just to read a story. Not because of its artistic merit, or to rip it apart and tell myself all the ways I could do it better, or criticizing it the whole time. I just read it to read it. And it... wasn't bad.” The charcoal stallion smiled despite himself, and then he nodded slowly before the Pegasus said quietly: “This book might flop. Initial sales were massive because of the advertising and the interest we... I mean, Mr. Underbrush generated, but I don't know if your message is going to get through. I don't know if everyone's going to believe how much of this is nonfiction, or be as understanding as I tried to be. People don't always respond well to messages. But... I want to know... why?” “Because.” Scrivener replied with a shrug, and when the Pegasus looked at him sourly, the charcoal stallion said mildly: “Ask a nonspecific question, get a nonspecific answer.” “What's a Clockwork Pony?” asked Mr. Tops in a loud whisper, and when all eyes looked at him, the unicorn cleared his throat and hurriedly adjusted his collar. “Well, you... you understand that... I am a very busy unicorn, and... I only had time for... bits and pieces, bits and pieces, but I most wholeheartedly agree with Doctrine. Bad writing, good story.” The Pegasus sighed and reached up to rub slowly at his temples, and Underbrush narrowed his eyes across at Scrivener Blooms before glancing at Rich Taste, who shrugged awkwardly. There was silence for a few moments, and then Barry said quickly: “You just wait! With all this positive karma we got going on, my guy is gonna be bigger than big! He's the next-” “Barry, I need to have a word with you. Perhaps you should come with us, Mr. Tops.” Underbrush said icily, and Barry slowly paled before nodding weakly, and the moss-colored earth pony stood up as Mr. Tops almost fell over in his hurry to leap to his own hooves. The literary agent carefully slid out of his seat, watched as Underbrush and Mr. Tops turned away, and then Barry hurriedly reached out and grabbed his wine glass, guzzling the rest of it in several large swallows before dropping it on the table and hurrying after them. Scrivener only sighed and shook his head slowly as Rich Taste fidgeted a bit, then looked towards the salad bar in the distance and mumbled something before sliding quickly away from the table. It left them alone with Doctrine, who studied them silently as Luna looked moody and Twilight tilted her head curiously. Scrivener felt awkward as he shifted a little, before glancing up when Doctrine asked quietly: “What's it like? You're all supposed to be the enemy after all... and yet what you've written...” “Maybe it's all lies to get you to drop your guard, and really I'm here on an evil mission to destroy everything in the name of Decretum.” Scrivener said dryly, and when Doctrine only looked at him moodily, Scrivener cleared his throat and looked back and forth for support, but Luna and Twilight were both looking at him sourly now. “Am I not allowed to tell jokes anymore?” Luna replied by bopping him firmly with her horn, and he flinched as Doctrine shook his head slowly, gazing at them almost warily. Twilight gave the two ponies a pointed look, but Luna only grumbled under her breath before the sapphire mare said flatly: “This is all nonsense, and 'tis nothing more than that. Scrivener is a good writer, he has written the truth, and if anything held back from detailing the more fantastic events that none would believe anyway. Why does thou and thy kind insist upon making the process painful instead of celebratory, jibing and insulting us while at the same time profiting off my husband's work?” “I haven't insulted you once, Lady Luna, and I don't plan to. I'm just curious, that's all.” Doctrine replied mildly, and then the Pegasus shook his head before asking quietly: “And why is this important to all of you, anyway? Why leave yourself so vulnerable and open, why tell the world this story if you have such a low opinion of all of us?” Luna shifted a bit at this, looking at Scrivener, but the charcoal stallion only shrugged a little. And surprisingly, it was Twilight who spoke up, looking up and across at Doctrine as she replied quietly: “Because maybe we... we just want to be part of the world we've helped protect and create but... all of us feel left outside of now. We're not trying to brag about being... monsters. We're trying to say that we're not... I'm a Lich, Luna's... Luna, and Scrivener is a... Clockwork Pony, like you said. But each and every one of us, we're... more and less than that, too. We're just... people. Just like the demons, the Nibelung, and other ponies. We're all just people.” Doctrine lowered his head thoughtfully, and there was silence at the table until Barry returned. The literary agent rubbed convulsively at his pale features, sweaty and unkempt, and he tossed a nervous look past Twilight before he whispered: “Hey, hey, stud. I gotta talk to you about something. You know, stallion-to-stallion?” “Then thou should be speaking to me.” Luna muttered, but Scrivener only gave her a look before the sapphire mare grunted and nodded with a sigh. Barry looked relieved as he quickly gestured for Scrivy to follow, and the charcoal stallion nodded even as Luna added: “Just be quick, Scrivener. My patience wears thin.” “I hear you.” the charcoal stallion agreed, and he stepped carefully away from the table to follow Barry along the railing of the second floor, until they were standing on the other side of the small room in a corner near some potted plants. Scrivener looked mildly at the agent as he shifted from hoof-to-hoof, whining a little in his throat, and then the writer asked finally, in a tired voice: “What is it, Barry? Just tell me, I'm somehow sure it's more devastating to you than it is to me.” “Underbrush is thinking about canceling the third printing run already, and cutting the second in half. He also won't approve of any 'further projects' or anything unless this one sells well after all, big guy. He seems mad as hell about something” Barry said uneasily, and Scrivener cocked his head curiously. “I don't mean just movies or stuff, I mean... he won't publish any of your other books or anything. Remember, we were talking about a second wave for Rose Thorns and all that? Well you can say goodbye to that unless two things happen: I Am, You Are makes good sales, and you, stud, you hustle your flank back into line and start behaving like a good little colt.” “Right, that's going to happen.” Scrivener said dryly, and when Barry glared at him furiously, the stallion sighed and rubbed slowly at his face, closing his eyes. “Look, this... this whole thing has just gone out of control. A little while ago, I was just a guy who lived happily in the woods with my weird little family. Today, I'm almost a celebrity. Barry, I expected to sell a few books, make a few ponies smile, and get Luna, Twilight and Celestia all off my back about trying to get published. Not this. This is madness.” “No, dammit, it isn't. I told you I could take this book places and I can, I'm sure I can!” Barry retorted in a frustrated voice, shaking his head and stomping his hooves almost childishly, before he half-glared, half-visibly-pleaded with his eyes. “Come on, champ! If you would just swallow your damn pride...” “It's not pride that compels me to be a jerk, Barry.” Scrivener replied after a moment, but he shifted a little on his hooves and fell quiet, letting himself digest what Barry had said and actually stopping to think about it instead of trying to deflect it or immediately label it as unimportant. Barry looked at him anxiously, fidgeting but not speaking, and finally the charcoal stallion looked up with a sigh and questioned: “How the hell am I supposed to make sales magically happen, Barry? Me acting like a good little colt isn't going to fix everything, and we all know that... whatever that magazine that the evil chick in the feathered hat wrote or is going to smear me. Why the hell did you invite her, anyway?” “I didn't!” Barry shook his head violently, wincing a bit. “Rogues And Studs must have bought a press pass, or... or hell, maybe Ersatz snuck in, I dunno! But you know I got all your best interests at heart, stud, I never once thought that she was going to go all... attack mode on you.” Scrivener grunted, then he paused before adding in an ironic voice: “And by the way. Whatever happened to 'any publicity is good publicity?'” “Yeah, that went out the window when Underbrush said he was going to cut your percentage in half the next time I said it.” Barry mumbled, rubbing slowly at his face before he sighed tiredly and looked up moodily. “Look, big guy, I know you hate this stuff but... some good publicity could make all the difference in the world for me, for you, for head honcho Underbrush. You gotta stop thinking like a writer, 'cause you ain't a writer right now, you're a showpiece, an entertainer, an advertiser.” The charcoal stallion glared down at Barry, but Barry only looked back before Scrivener groaned and rolled his eyes. “So what do you want me to do? Go stand in the square, smile, and wave a big sign around?” “Well, big guy, I was thinking that you could do another book signing in Canterlot. Maybe we could get the Baroness to be present, too, huh? She's a real important figure, and I don't think she'd mind doin' you a favor, especially with all the naughty-naughty you hint at in okay shutting up.” Barry quailed under the flat glower that Scrivener focused on him, before the smaller, expensively-dressed agent nervously rose a hoof. “Canterlot? In a week or so? Big book signing, publicity stunt, yes?” “I... my family and I wanted to go on a vacation to Subterra...” Scrivener began, and then he winced as Barry brightened. “Then it's perfect! You get to go on vacation, with all your whole family along, and... hey, maybe we'll do some... I dunno, bring the kids day or something! But you can vacation and work all at once, it would be real great, just you wait and see.” Barry said enthusiastically, clapping his front hooves together, and Scrivener sighed and rolled his eyes before the stallion said pointedly: “You promised, stud, you just gave me your word on trying to do this thing. Do it for your kids, huh?” “Don't drag my kids into this. I hate it when you say things like that even more than I hate it when you talk about Luna and Twilight.” Scrivener muttered, but he gave a short nod all the same, and Barry nodded violently in return, looking relieved. “Awesome, Underbrush is gonna love this, just you watch, champ!” Barry exclaimed, stamping his hooves and grinning up at the charcoal stallion, who looked far less enthused. “And hey, hey, you got some great grown up kids and how could I not talk about your ladies, you lucky devil you? Two babes, by holy hell.” Scrivener grumbled as he turned around, and Barry bounced after him, saying quickly: “You and me, though, we gotta prepare some answers and questions and uh... flashcards maybe, I dunno, but we're gonna have to rehearse and you're gonna have to remember your promise. No more incidents like with Ersatz, and... we'll make sure she and her flunkies don't slide their slippery way in, you got that?” “The fact you're a failed writer yourself really shows in the way you talk, Barry. No wonder you decided on a career change, must be nice being able to feel like you're controlling the lives of actual writers while feeding off the carrion left over from their successes.” Scrivener muttered, and Barry gave a half-forced, half-surprised giggle, making the charcoal stallion sigh and shift awkwardly a little. “Okay, that was a little low. I apologize.” “Yeah, you just concentrate on getting through the day, champ, I'm here to make sure you do. Even if you do... crush my soul...” Barry broke off into mumbling, dropping his head as he sulked his way after the stallion as they headed back to the table. The rest of dinner was a little awkward, and Scrivener couldn't begin to express how happy he was once Underbrush excused himself, and the other important figures followed. Barry was still pouting a bit, and when Twilight Sparkle gave Scrivener a pointed look, the earth pony sighed tiredly before slumping and asking dryly: “Barry, would you like to come to the party we're having?” Luna threw her head back and rose her hooves, glaring at the ceiling in frustration, but Barry rose his head and brightened, the speckled stallion nodding hurriedly as he said eagerly: “Yeah! Hey, yeah, stud, see, I knew we'd start liking each other eventually!” “Eventually.” Scrivener muttered, and then he pushed himself away from the table even as Twilight smiled at him, before the charcoal stallion added grumpily: “Just be on your best behavior, okay, Barry? And remember these are all my friends, at my house. So... don't freak out too much over what you might see.” Barry only grinned wider at this... but three hours later, the agent was half-hiding in a corner of the living room, almost hugging a glass of whiskey against his chest as he stared around the room. He felt like he was at a Nightmare Night party... except he was far too well aware all the costumes were real and no one was playing make-believe. A unicorn stallion that looked like he was made of fire was grinning brightly, flirting with a Kelpie: a demonic mare with a greenish body and a mane and tail like seaweed, her eyes almost glowing and the teeth she kept flashing in coy smiles far too big and sharp and scary to belong to a pony. An enormous demon with huge, powerful arms, a scaly body, and ram's horns was sitting calmly beside Twilight Sparkle, a tiny little glass of water held in one immense claw as it listened closely to whatever story the violet mare was relating... not to ponies, but to Phooka and several much-more sinister looking creatures. They had almost the same smoky composition, but their eyes glowed red, and they seemed darker, more supernatural: Nightmares. And Twilight herself was no reassurance: this was the first time he had seen her without something covering her body to hide the fact that enormous trails of stitching stretched over her frame, as if she was held together by thick black string. There were plenty of quote-unquote 'normal' ponies wandering around too, but somehow that only made it worse. Somehow, seeing ponies amidst all this madness played all kinds of weird tricks on his mind, and Barry took a trembling drink of his whiskey before he glared at Scrivener as the charcoal stallion strode into the room from the kitchen, the agent hurrying over to the writer and opening his mouth before the dull-colored mare that walked in with him asked sourly: “Isn't this the douchebag from that stupid book signing you did?” “Oh, be nice, Pinkamena.” Scrivener replied mildly, and the gray-pink mare snorted as Barry glared at her, before Scrivener glanced towards Twilight and added, interrupting her story: “Hey, hate to cut you off, but uh. Luna wants you to go and watch her throw a tree.” “Not again...” Twilight sighed tiredly, rolling her eyes before she gave a grudging nod. “Okay, I guess I can... watch once. Oh, before I go... Atrus, have you met Barry?” The agent slowly paled as the immense, ram-horned demon turned his crimson eyes on the little earth pony, and Pinkamena grinned widely, asking teasingly: “Hey, what's wrong, pal? Thought you were some big-time show pony. We demons too scary for you?” Barry only mumbled, and Twilight gave the earth pony a lame smile before Scrivener sighed tiredly, glancing over at Pinkamena and grumbling: “Excuse me. Barry, come on, let's go get you some air, I guess.” Barry nodded lamely, turning staring eyes up at Atrus for a moment, and the charcoal stallion reached carefully out to take the agent's drink away and put it on the counter before grabbing him and pulling him past the milling guests. There were far too many people crammed into their small house and the backyard, but with a little bit of effort, Scrivener was able to make his way out of the front door with Barry in tow and into the much quieter front yard. He sighed as he emerged with the smaller earth pony, then glanced curiously to the side before smiling softly at the sight of the couple sitting together on the front deck. Scrivener Blooms approached, glancing between gorgeous ivory unicorn and her purple-scaled dragon companion as he asked softly: “How're you two doing, Rarity, Spike?” Both looked up at him warmly: Rarity, with her beautiful blue eyes, her features only made more attractive with age, a quiet grace and strength about her and her cutie mark of shining gemstones all but glowing; Spike, with his emerald irises, strong and tall... but not dragon-sized. He was broad-shouldered and handsome, his scales gleaming, a mohawk of fins going from forehead to the back of his neck and a tattoo of runes around one bicep that kept him from growing too large. They had given up a lot for each other, but they were happy together. And at the end of the day, that was what mattered, especially in this strange, rough world. Spike smiled as he rose a hand and waved a little, and Rarity answered softly: “We're doing very well, actually. We just decided to... take a moment to step outside all the hubbub. It's such a beautiful night and... well, I suppose I'm starting to get old.” “Not at all, Rarity. Mature, I think, is what you are. But not old.” Spike said gently, smiling and reaching up to squeeze her shoulder, and the wedding band around his claw glinted as Rarity smiled in return, turning towards him and making the ring around her own horn gleam quietly. “I think it's just... so much at once. It's funny... Rarity and me have gotten used to kind of a quieter life, you know?” “Yeah, I do.” Scrivener replied with a nod, and then he paused before reaching backwards and grabbing Barry, half-yanking him forwards. “This is my agent, Barry. He's not so used to seeing the kind of people Luna and I hang out with. Barry, this is Rarity and her husband, Spike. I think you should remember them from my book.” “Huh? Oh. Yeah.” Barry shook his head out a bit, then awkwardly stepped forwards and took Spike's claw when the dragon offered it, the earth pony giving a weak grin before he nodded at Rarity politely. Then he stepped back, shaking himself out before asking finally: “Uh... nice... nice people in there, yeah?” “It takes a little getting used to, but they are.” Rarity said kindly, glancing up and brushing back her corkscrewed, violet mane with a warm smile, and Spike nodded in agreement as he rubbed a claw absently at the lime-green, thinner scales covering his masculine breast. “Although I remember a certain dragon here had a bit of a problem adjusting himself.” “Hey, I wasn't scared of Twilight, I was scared for her. She's still like a big sister to me.” Spike replied easily, reaching up and squeezing his wife's shoulder lightly before he glanced over at Barry. “And she's still one of the best ponies I've ever known. Scrivener and Luna... they're both lucky ponies.” “Yeah, we are.” Scrivener smiled after a moment, and then he shook his head before patting Barry on the shoulder, saying mildly as a faint wave of soreness ran through his body: “I feel pretty mean doing this to you two, but look after him for a little while, will you? I'm going to go try and give Twilight a hoof dealing with Sleipnir and Luna.” “I... hey!” Barry glared up at Scrivener, but Rarity only smiled and Spike nodded with a chuckle, and the charcoal stallion gave his agent a shrug before turning and heading into the house. Then the small earth pony grumbled, slumping back against the wall in his expensive suit as he mumbled: “What did I ever do to deserve this?” The earth pony slumped a little, then glanced up in surprise when Rarity gave a quiet laugh, saying gently: “It might not be any of my business, sir, but... if you're half the businesspony your suit tells me you are, you should be excited about this. After all, while they are a little... scary at first, some of the demons and other beings in there have some marvelous stories to tell. Try and talk to a few of them and maybe you can be the first pony to really... harness and sell that appeal.” Barry looked with surprise over at Rarity for a few moments, studying the ivory unicorn as she continued to smile, and then he reached up and tapped a hoof thoughtfully against his own nose before Spike added: “And Scrivener really is a great guy, and he's written... well, quite a lot, actually. I'm pretty sure if you talk to him about the right things you could find something else publish-worthy. And that would help everyone, right?” “Huh.” Barry said thoughtfully, looking down for a few moments... and then he nodded once before looking up curiously. “You know, you two ain't so bad. But I think uh... I'm just going to take a minute or two more to think. You know. Just to think. Then I'll go back in among the... the demons and the monsters and the scary things and the... soul-crushing writer.” Spike snorted in amusement at this as Rarity gave the agent an entertained look, and Barry rubbed awkwardly at his expensive, bristly haircut, mumbling: “Seriously, if I'd had any idea things were going to be like this, I would have asked for a much bigger cut.” But all the same, Barry looked thoughtful more than anything else now as he sat back a bit, like he was thinking more about how this could work in his favor... but at the same time, his eyes kept flicking to the unicorn and dragon sitting comfortably nearby, as he wondered curiously how the hell two perfectly-normal seeming people could be so calm about the madhouse inside. Unless maybe... just maybe... they were telling the truth about Scrivener and his friends after all. Top ↑